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Session 2259

Application of LabView for Undergraduate Lab Experiments On Vibrations Testing

Sean Walsh and Ismail I. Orabi University of New Haven

Abstract

This paper describes the implementation of LabVIEW, in an experiment in a mechanics laboratory in the mechanical engineering department at the University of New Haven, to allow the acquisition of real time data for display, analysis, control and storage. The data acquisition system is provided using the following products from National Instruments: AT-MIO-16L-9, data acquisition board; NI-DAQ, application programming interface; and LabVIEW, software development package. The goal is to carry out real-time measurements and display acquired waveforms on a PC screen and also store data associated with these waveforms for later use. The aim is to be able to control and apply voltage to a shaker driving a simple cantilever beam, and collect data from the resulting strain in the beam. In the vibration test, the response of the cantilever beam to a sinusoidal loading is determined by two strain gages mounted on the top and the bottom of the cantilever beam. The time domain signals are then analyzed using LabVIEW software to obtain a spectrum response.

This work will demonstrate that the capability to rapidly acquire, display and analyze data provides a valuable tool to students. It is also believed that the time students take to complete the experiments will be significantly reduced by using LabVIEW.

Introduction

The use of a computer to imitate an instrument or device is known as virtual instrumentation. One software development package used to create virtual instruments is LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench). LabVIEW is a graphical programming language that, when used in conjunction with a data acquisition device and personal computer, allows the user to control devices, collect, manipulate and display data. Written code is not used in LabVIEW instead graphical representations of the circuits are constructed which are called virtual instruments (VI’s). These VI’s are manipulated so that they will perform the desired tasks at hand. The VIs (virtual instruments) in LabVIEW are run from their front panels. This is the panel with all of the controls and displays. Each front panel has an associated block diagram. This block diagram is built using the graphical programming language G. The components of the block diagram represent different structures, loops and functions. The wiring of the block diagram represents flow of data between these components. A VI becomes a sub VI when it is

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Walsh, S., & Orabi, I. I. (2000, June), Application Of Lab View For Undergraduate Lab Experiments On Vibrations Testing Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8165